Ruben Amorim
Ruben Amorim

Ipswich 1-1 Manchester United: Ruben Amorim's debut as Man Utd manager ends in draw


Ruben Amorim had to settle for a point on his debut as Manchester United head coach after Omari Hutchinson cancelled out Marcus Rashford’s second-minute opener in an end-to-end 1-1 Premier League draw at Ipswich.

Amorim had dubbed himself ‘the smiling one’ on Friday but was motionless when Rashford tapped home after 81 seconds following excellent play by Amad Diallo, who was used at right wing-back.

Newly-promoted Town, buoyed by a first league win of the season at Tottenham a fortnight ago, responded with aplomb and levelled after 43 minutes through Hutchinson’s deflected left-footed strike.

There would be no second-half winner, but Amorim was indebted to goalkeeper Andre Onana for two stunning saves to deny Liam Delap either side of half-time.

A point did little for United’s top-four ambitions, but they extended their unbeaten run to five matches to move up one place to 12th.

'My players were thinking too much'

Amorim believes his players were over-thinking during their 1-1 draw with Ipswich.

The Portuguese manager’s tenure could not have got off to a better start with Marcus Rashford scoring inside two minutes at Portman Road but Omari Hutchinson levelled before half-time.

“It’s a tough league,” Amorim told Sky Sports when asked for his initial impressions of Premier League life.

“What you learn in the first moment, a good environment. I think my players were thinking too much during the game. You can feel it.

“It is a tough match. I think we lost some balls without pressure. When you start the game like this, you score one goal and then you have to control the ball, you have to control the tempo of the game.

“We cannot do it at the moment, but they tried, they really, really tried. I know for some guys it’s hard to understand this but they are really, really trying and they want this.”

Amorim is not promising an immediate fix, saying: “We have two ways: we try to just win games, don’t risk nothing in this moment, and I guarantee next year at the same stage, we will have the same problems.

“The players will be confused sometimes but we have to address since this moment the new idea and try to be better.”


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